The TV Railway Series
by VoidArmour
Summary: An attempt to put some of the TV series characters into the Railway Series universe, without modifying the latter to any great degree in any other way.


_The Railway Series, as created by the Awdrys, creates a plausible Sodor, but leaves much of it's standard gauge network, and most of it's fleet, unrecorded. The TV series has created a good many characters__, but doesn't explain what they do, and include some oddities that need a lot of explaining to justify. So, here's my attempt at it. My priority is to make things fit within the Railway Series continuity - short of a character's name, basic personality and basis, I will change whatever I feel I need to._

_But anyway, onto the first book._**  
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**Dockyard Engines**

Dear Friends,

The docks at the big station have been getting busier recently, and shunting them has been causing problems for the engines. Fortunately, the Fat Controller has been able to find new engines to help with the shunting, but their arrivals didn't go entirely smoothly, as these stories show.

The Author.

Stories:

Cranky Bugs

Harvey to the Rescue

Salty

No Sleep for Cranky

**Cranky Bugs**

To save time for the other engines, Percy sometimes takes his trucks all the way to the big station and shunts them himself. He enjoys coming down here, since he gets to talk with other engines, and visit the harbour. The harbour is much larger than the one on the branchline, with goods coming in and out all the time – locals such as fishermen sharing the docks with ships bringing all sorts of things from the other side of the worlds.

However, Percy and Duck were having a bad day. A new crane, named Cranky, was causing trouble. "You're useless bugs," Cranky called, "if you put those trucks on the line closest to me, I don't need to travel as far."

"We've arranged trucks on these lines for years," Percy protested, "and we've never had a crane complain about it yet."

"We'll I'm complaining now," Cranky told them, "so next time arrange the trucks closer to me." With that, he dumped the load back on the quayside.  
>"I reckon you're just lazy," Duck muttered, but Cranky was too far up to hear them.<p>

At the sheds, Percy and Duck grumbled about the crane. The big engines, however, didn't quite see things the same way.

"Cranes," Gordon said knowledgeably, despite never having met one, "are airy-fairy things, and need a lot of attention."

"Like you," Henry cut in. Gordon ignored him.

"Think about how he feels," James added, "stuck up there in all weathers, and then little tank engines like you run around underneath and annoy him."

Percy and Duck decided to give Cranky a brake, but when he found out the big engines sympathised with him, he became ruder.

"Move those trucks closer," he called to Percy.

"Lazy thing," Percy muttered, and wasn't concentrating. He rolled too far, and Cranky was already lowering the crate he was holding. It crashed down onto Percy's smokebox. No damage was done, but Cranky was emboldened to do more.

"Move those trucks to the far siding," Cranky ordered Duck, "it's easier for me to load."

Duck, grumbling, did so, but Cranky dropped the timbers in his arm onto the line beside him. The straps broke, and wood rolled everywhere.

"You had to know I can't reach that far," Cranky smiled.

The mix-up caused more delay, and the Fat Controller was stern with Duck.

"I have heard you have been unhelpful with the new crane," he told him, "Tommorow, Oliver can do the shunting here, and you will stay on the branch."

That night, a storm blew up. Henry, Donald and Boco were trapped at the docks, sheltering in an old metal shed near Cranky.

"We should be safe in here," the diesel told them, but he was wrong.

A old steamer was fighting it's way through the storm, seeking shelter. Unable to see lights on the quay, the skipper thought they were further out than they were. Suddenly, with a crunch, a wooden pier vanished under the steamer, and it's proud bow slammed into the shed, sending it sideways into the crane. Cranky's fastenings gave way, and he toppled over onto the tracks.

"Help!" shouted Henry.

"I can't," Cranky wailed.

The next morning, the Fat Controller came to survey the damage. Cranky had only taken minor damage, and once he was upright could clear the shed away.

"If we could send some engines around the back of the docks, we could pull him up," an inspector suggested.

"Of course," replied the Fat Controller, and he hurried away to make the arrangements.

"Show a wheel, you two," Oliver called.

"Why should we help that thing?" Duck asked him.

"Cranky can stay here for all I care," Percy added.

"But what about Henry and Donald?"  
>"OH! Oh yes of course."<p>

Duck and Oliver were coupled together, whilst Percy would run alongside, to correct Cranky's position. Puffing hard, the three engines managed to right the huge crane, and once he was bolted down, he was able to remove the wreck from the big engines.

"Thankye very much," Donald called.  
>"No problem," Cranky replied," I had to be rescued first, I just didn't think it'd be by bu- I mean small engines. I'm sorry I was rude."<p>

"So it _was_ you," the Fat Controller chuckled, "I guess I owe you an apology Duck."  
>"But right now," Cranky went on, "you're in my way, so move."<br>"He isn't at all," Percy muttered, backing off.

"Don't Move!" shouted Duck, "you're still attached to Cranky."  
>Cranky swayed violently, but his new bolts held. Still, it took him by surprise, and from then on he stopped calling engines 'bugs'. After all, they could bite back.<p>

**Harvey to the Rescue.**

Work at the docks was getting busier, and the engines were struggling to shunt them and do their own work. One evening, Duck rolled out of the docks exhausted. He collected Alice and Mirabel, and rolled into the platform for his train. The Fat Controller was on the platform.

"My, you look tired," he exclaimed.

"It's shunting the harbour," Duck explained, "begging your pardon, sir, but we need a dedicated shunter."  
>"I agree," the Fat Controller replied, "and I've already spoken to some contacts. A new engine will be coming in a few days."<p>

"That's a relief!" Duck sighed, before the guard blew the whistle and Duck puffed away up the branch.

The new engine soon arrived. He was small, with four wheels, red-brown paint and wooden buffers, but most distinctive of all was the large crane atop his boiler. He had been brought by ship, and Cranky was unloading him, but the engine was heavy.

"This makes my chain ache!" snapped the crane, as the engine was lowered onto the rails.

"This," explained an inspector, "is Harvey, a Crane Engines"

Duck though Harvey looked rather strange, but Harvey was simply glad to be on the ground. Being suspended by Cranky wasn't comfortable.

"Tomorrow," the inspector continued, "he is to give a demonstration to the railway board. If it goes well, he'll be working here as the dock shunter."

That evening, Duck rolled back to the sheds after another busy day. He found Harvey sat outside. He was about to ask why he didn't go in, but he soon got close enough to hear the other engines talking inside.

"Harvey," Henry pointed out, "is different."

"He doesn't really seem like a proper engine at all," added Gordon.

"He's just Cranky with wheels."

"I wouldn't let him take my coaches," added Oliver.

Duck gave Harvey a smile. "Don't worry," he reassured him, "once they get to know you, they'll change their tune, trust me."

But still, Harvey was worried

The next morning, after the other engines had left for work, the Fat Controller came to see Harvey.

"Maybe coming here was a mistake, sir," he said.

"Nonsense," replied the Fat Controller.

"The other engines don't like me though," Harvey explained, "I'm too different."  
>"Being different is what makes you special."<br>Harvey felt a little better after that, and his crew arrived to get him ready to work.

Out on his branchline, Oliver was having a bad day. He hadn't been able to get enough steam up, and, panting, had come to a stop on a hill. The trucks saw a chance, and they took it.

"Come on come on!" the shouted, and began to drag poor Oliver back down the line, knocking the guard out of the brakevan. Oliver did his best, but the trucks began to pick up speed. As they came to the bridge where Bulgy the bus had become stuck, the van bounced off the track, sending the trucks spilling onto the road and leaving Oliver's driving wheels resting on the sleepers.

Bertie was trying to take the railway board to Harvey's demonstration. Whilst he was glad no-one was badly hurt, the trucks blocked his path, and he sounded his horn angrily.

When the Fat Controller heard about the mess, he came up with an idea. "Have the board members stay there," he ordered, "I will be along soon." Putting down the phone, he picked up his hat and went to find Harvy.

Harvey was still in the yard when the Fat Controller appeared. "One of my engines is derailed. I need you to sort out the mess."

"Of course sir," Harvey replied.  
>"That's a good engine," the Fat Controller told him, climbing aboard. "I want to see how you manage, so I'll come with you."<p>

Harvey was surprised, but determined to impress.

When he arrived, the Fat Controller stepped down from the footplate and clambered down to the road. "Gentlemen," he addressed the railway board, "I present a demonstration of a Crane Tank at work."

Harvey hadn't noticed the men, and rolled forwards. His crew fixed chains around Oliver's front, and with a heave Harvey drew in his chains, lifting the western engine up and swinging him back in line with the rails. Whilst Oliver built up more steam, Harvey set to work recovering the trucks and shunting them back into the train. Then, whistle blowing, Harvey helped Oliver up the hill.

"That was the best demonstration of all," the Fat Controller commended Harvey when he returned. "The gentlemen of railway board iare impressed as well, and they've decided you will join the railway."

"Oh, thank you, sirs," said Harvey, proudly.

That evening, the engines were talking about Harvey again, but this time they were muck kinder.

"Well done Harvey," Gordon told him.

"Very useful," added James.

"Thanks again," Oliver put in.

"See," Duck said, "I told you they'd see you differently when they knew what you can do."

**Salty**

The quarry on Thomas' branch line was getting busier as well. Toby, Percy and Mavis were working harder to keep everything under control, but when Toby had to go to the works for repairs, things got two much to handle. Mavis did her best, but she couldn't shunt and bring trucks down the quarry line, and other engines weren't allowed up here, and soon there was a backlog of stone waiting to go down the line.

The quarry manager telephoned the Fat Controller, to see if he could provide another engine.

"I have a new diesel arriving this afternoon," he replied, "if Mavis can get him up the tramway, he can shunt the quarry until the backlog is cleared."

The manager agreed, and arranged for Mavis to make an extra trip in the afternoon, to bring up the new engine.

Salty is a special diesel. His wheels are very close together, which meant he could get around sharp curves at docksyards, where most engines would struggle. He loves the sea, and when he found he was being transferred to an island, he was pleased, since islands were surrounded by water.

He was therefore surprised when a stationmaster sent him up a branch line and away from the coast. He eventually came to the top station, where he was stopped, parked up at the head of a line of empty trucks, and his rods taken off and tied up.

"What are ye doing" he asked, confused.

"You can't go any further under power," explained the stationmaster, "It's orders. Mavis will collect you shortly."

Mavis arrived a few minutes later, and leaving her train for Percy to deal with, coupled up to Salty and the trucks and towed them up the line.

"Welcome to the Quarry," she said proudly, when they arrived.

Salty looked around, and could see nothing but rocks. "A quarry?" he exclaimed, "there must be a mistake. I'm a dockyard diesel."

"Until all these trucks are gone, you're a quarry diesel," Mavis told him.

Salty was disappointed, but found a silver lining. "Arr, at least there be trucks," he said.

"You better watch them," Mavis cautioned him, "they can be difficult."

However, Saltly seemed to have no trouble with the trucks at all. Mavis was surprised at how they seemed to have taken to him, until he rolled by whilst she was refuelling.

"_Yo ho ho and a bucket of Prawns,"_ sang Salty, _"the tiller spins-"_

"_and the captain yawns!" _the trucks sang on.

"Well, that's novel," Mavis thought to herself.

That evening, Salty rolled to the shed. According to Mavis' driver, the diesel was known to tell stories, but he didn't say a word, and sat outside the shed.

"What's the matter," she asked.

"Ah was thinkin' o' catchin the see air."

"But we're not near the sea? You miss it, don't you."

"Arr," Salty murmured.

But a couple of days later Toby came back, and soon the backlog was cleared. Salty was brought back down to the branch line, where the Fat Controller was waiting.

"I hear your work here has been good," he said, "I hope you'll do as well for me."

Salty still looked down. "What sort o' quarry will ah be workin' at then."

The Fat Controller seemed surprised. "Quarry?" he asked, "no. You'll be working at the docks."  
>"The docks? By the sea? Oh, thankyou sir. That reminds me of a time..." and Salty began telling his stories as he set off back down the branch.<p>

**No Sleep for Cranky**

Salty arrived at the docks and immediately set to work. He got on easily with Harvey – the crane engine was fascinated by his stories of the sea, and he was a hard-working engine with stories of his own. The two engines soon sorted the docks out, clearing away goods which was sat around waiting to be moved, and even had time to run up to the other sidings and yards nearby.

The other engines were impressed with Salty, and the way he mastered the trucks.

He may not be the tidiest engine around," Henry noted, "but him and Harvey have done wonders with the docks. At least now I can usually get my trains out without weaving around trucks."

The other engines agreed that Salty was good for the railway.

James frequently went down to the docks to collect trucks for his trains. Today, however, they were being awkward, and refusing to move.

"Trucks like workin' to a musical rhythm," he explained, "as do I. It makes things go faster."  
>James waited until the diesel had moved on before he tried it. "'Ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go," he sang.<p>

"No we don't, no we don't, no we don't," the trucks countered.

James gave up, and gave an extra hard pull. _That_ got the trucks moving. James decided to leave the singing to Salty in future.

Salty may have made things smoother, but the docks were still busy, and Cranky the crane had little time to rest. He could never go to sleep early or wake up late, he was always at work, and his only company was the seagulls that rested on his arm.

One evening, he placed a load of pipes onto a wagon just as Salty rolled up. "Ahoy there Cranky!" called the diesel.

"Where have you been," snapped Cranky.

"An' a good evenin' to you too," replied Salty, as Harvey rolled up, sandwiched in the middle of some more trucks.

"Hurry up!" shouted Cranky, "some of us don't have all night you know."

"Well you're in a sour mood," Harvey retorted.

"So would you be, if you were up here all the time."

"So that's why you're Cranky," Harvey realised, "you're lonely."

"I'm not!"

"So it be company you needin'," Salty said, "reminds me of a lighthouse keeper."

"Oh not another one of your stories," Cranky groaned.

"I haven't heard that one," Harvey put in, "do go one."

"It was in the middle of a wee naughty storm," Salty began, the likes o' which ye see once in a lifetime..."

Cranky was getting more annoyed, and finally he'd had enough. He swung his arm violently. Suddenly, with a bang, he stopped, sending pipes flying over the track and into a shed, which collapsed down on the lines the two engines needed to use to leave. They were trapped. Cranky found he couldn't move, and Harvey couldn't get past his trucks to clear the line either.

The Fat Controller was in his office when the telephone rang. "So Cranky broke down and trapped Salty and Harvey at the quay? It's too late now to start trying to fix him. They'll have to stay there overnight.

"That reminds me of a story," Salty said, when they were told of the arrangements.

"Everything reminds you of a story," Cranky grumbled.

"The little boat was trapped in ice all winter, and wasn't able to get home until the spring. It barely made it – after 100 days at sea without a scratch, it ran into a quay not 15 feet from my buffers."

So it went on, with Salty telling stories all through the night. Cranky got no sleep at all.

"I can't take any more of this," he wailed.

At last, dawn came, and Henry and Duck arrived with more cranes. Cranky was so relieved that he stopped being cranky. Henry left to take a train, but Duck stayed to help Harvey and the workmen clear the mess.

Cranky had stopped being rude, worked quickly, and even said please and thank you.

"This is new," Percy noted, when he came by.

Sadly, this change didn't stick, and Cranky has started being rude again, but since then he has become more tolerant of the engines. Salty and Harvey have learnt that it's nothing personal, but merely his nature. The two engines even call Cranky their friend, and all three have now been accepted as a vital part of the Fat Controller's railway.

The End.

_**Cranky Bugs** and **Harvey to the Rescue** are based on the TV series episodes of the same names. **Salty** is based on Salty's Secret, whilst** No Sleep for Cranky** is based on the episode of the same name, as well as another part of Salty's Secret._

_Salty carries the number D4._


End file.
